Orikoru
Tour Winner
Granted I'm not a fan of having loads of lessons but you've completely lost me on the other stuff. Not sure why you have a chip on your shoulder but we should probably leave it there.
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'Second Club' Dilemma
- Thread starter Orikoru
- Start date
Captain_Black.
Well-known member
I dropped my 5 wood for the exact reason you did.
There was very little difference between my 5 & 7 woods in terms of distance.
I now carry
Ping g430 SFT driver
Ping g430 SFT 3 wood
Ping G430 SFT 7 wood
I have a driver swing speed of 85 / 90 mph
I aways had regular Ping Alta shafts & I was always susceptible to a fade / slice.
I now use Ping Alta 55g stiff shafts, which interestingly has totally cured my fade / slice.
My swing speed suggests I should be using a regular shaft, but real world ball striking on the course tells a whole different story.
There was very little difference between my 5 & 7 woods in terms of distance.
I now carry
Ping g430 SFT driver
Ping g430 SFT 3 wood
Ping G430 SFT 7 wood
I have a driver swing speed of 85 / 90 mph
I aways had regular Ping Alta shafts & I was always susceptible to a fade / slice.
I now use Ping Alta 55g stiff shafts, which interestingly has totally cured my fade / slice.
My swing speed suggests I should be using a regular shaft, but real world ball striking on the course tells a whole different story.
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
I would definitely look at a 4 and 5H instead of the irons. Best thing I did. More options, more consistent and more distance
sunshine
Well-known member
Learn to hit your driver properly and you want need any fairway woods. Majority par 4 are 400 yards so if you hit your driver 240/250 you will be left with 7/8 iron to the green.
With your handicap you don't have to hit par 5 in 2.
I have driver 2 iron followed by 4 iron and never felt like I'm missing any clubs at the bottom of my bag.
Your handicap is 15 and you want to find a magical club that will give you 10 yards gap around 200 + yards?.
Keep dreaming
I would suggest you need to learn how to hit your fairway woods properly. Your game looks limited if you are relying on a 2 iron when driver is not the right play.
I can't think of a single player on tour who doesn't have a fairway wood.
adasko
Assistant Pro
it got me to handicap 1.8 so it works ok for me.
there are 4 5 and 6 iron I can use if driver is not a ply
Ye Olde Boomer
Well-known member
I have an overlap in my bag at 20°--
my longest iron and my most lofted of three woods (after driver and 16.5° 4-wood).
The strong-lofted 20° 4-iron hits low, straight line drives that land hot.
It's my driver on scary driving holes.
The 20° "Heavenwood" hits the ball sky high and lands steeply.
I either hit it into greens or the wind blows it onto another fairway.
Very fun club, though.
While the overall distance may be similar,
they're two completely different shots, both of which are useful in different situations.
Of course, with a 14 club limit, we either have the luxury of bagging that overlap or we don't, all
depending on how well thirteen other clubs cover our needs.
It's worth it for me, but perhaps not everybody.
Set configuration is not a simple thing for those who take it seriously.
I don't know if I take it that seriously, but it's a strategy of the game I enjoy.
my longest iron and my most lofted of three woods (after driver and 16.5° 4-wood).
The strong-lofted 20° 4-iron hits low, straight line drives that land hot.
It's my driver on scary driving holes.
The 20° "Heavenwood" hits the ball sky high and lands steeply.
I either hit it into greens or the wind blows it onto another fairway.
Very fun club, though.
While the overall distance may be similar,
they're two completely different shots, both of which are useful in different situations.
Of course, with a 14 club limit, we either have the luxury of bagging that overlap or we don't, all
depending on how well thirteen other clubs cover our needs.
It's worth it for me, but perhaps not everybody.
Set configuration is not a simple thing for those who take it seriously.
I don't know if I take it that seriously, but it's a strategy of the game I enjoy.
dronfield
Newbie
Would agree that for those of us that play mostly parkland / heathland golf that a fairway wood is a good option if driver not working, however the poster plays at Cruden Bay which is a tough links course and therefore a completely different animal. In 2006 from memory when Tiger won at Hoylake he teed off mostly with long irons and Rory also used them as a driver alternative in Ireland last week - being able to hit a long iron well is very beneficial in links golf re tee shot options.
sunshine
Well-known member
Yes I agree but the guy thinks he’s special. However there isn’t a single tour pro that doesn’t use a fairway wood, even in the Open.
adasko
Assistant Pro
you same as OP missed my point completely, I didn't advice him to drop his fairway woods.
My advice was learn to use driver properly.
I like when you compering average club golfers with tour pros with what they using on the golf course.
Tour pros do lessons, gym and stretches too but new club ordered on the whim would probably help him more.
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Orikoru
Tour Winner
Advice based on absolutely nothing but your own imagination.
Voyager EMH
Slipper Wearing Plucker of Pheasants
RichA
Well-known member
Yeah but if just hit your driver 350 yards and learn to hit it off the deck as well you'll only need that, a wedge and a putter. You just aren't trying hard enough.
Voyager EMH
Slipper Wearing Plucker of Pheasants
Dechambeau does just that in a Rick Shields Youtube video. He did fairly well.
Backache
Assistant Pro
There are no 700 yard holes on the courses I play.
In all honesty I probably need a go to club for those awkward distances between a wedge and a driver.
CountLippe
Active member
If you regularly play at the same course, you should tailor the top end of your bag according. e.g Are you hitting a 3w/5w/7w to hit greens or simply to advance the ball as far as possible. Nothing worse than having a 3w you never use.
Orikoru
Tour Winner
We have a few short par 4s where there's trouble right, so a fairway-finding second club would be handy to just hit the fairway at around 200 and leave myself a wedge or 9 iron in. As opposed to slapping driver down, risk hitting it right into trouble when I didn't need to, and leave myself an awkward pitching yardage unnecessarily. So it would be more for tee shots I think. The two par 5s I can't reach in two anyway other than on the driest of summer days.
Again last night I tried the 3 wood on one such hole described above, and sliced it twice from two attempts, so not much use really. I'm definitely leaning towards picking up a G430 5 wood if I can.
CountLippe
Active member
Best bet is probably perching yourself in front a launch monitor with a variety of options.
Whereditgo
Journeyman Pro
How well do you hit your 23 deg hybrid? and how far does it go?
Orikoru
Tour Winner
It's nice, but probably about 175 ish on average. 7 wood is around 185-190 - I do use that on one of the shortest par 4s. But something for around 205-210 would be lovely as it could mean hitting that and then wedge/9 instead of 7W then 7 iron or something. Particularly now that my new driver seems to have gained me 15-20 yards.
Voyager EMH
Slipper Wearing Plucker of Pheasants
Bought one this year.
It goes not as far as my 20° hybrid, but further than my 24° iron, about the same as my 21° iron.
